India's Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) gave the go-ahead to the deal on 464 Russian T-90 tanks under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, a source in the Indian Defense Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.
NEW DELHI — The 'Make in India' program of the Indian government aims to attract multinational and national companies' investments in the country's manufacturing.
In 2001, New Delhi reportedly bought 310 T-90 tanks from Russia, some of which were assembled in India from prepared kits. Each T-90 deal after that has served to move the production to India. At this point, India can do a large percentage of the assemblies domestically but still needs to have some details imported.
"The Defense Acquisition Council has also approved a 464 Russian T-90 tanks deal under the Make in India initiative," the source said.
With the DAC approval, the Defense Ministry can proceed to the negotiations with the suppliers.
According to local media, if the deal is successfully finalized, the Indian Army will receive the advanced models of the T-90 combat tank, which will bring the number of T-90 tanks in its possession to 1,300.